


Onions

by nepenthe_writer



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Misunderstandings, Overreaction, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-09 22:21:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20517353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nepenthe_writer/pseuds/nepenthe_writer
Summary: Steve wakes up alone and jumps to some conclusions causing a spiral of worry and panic





	Onions

Steve shuffled around in bed as he made the gradual transition from sleep to wakefulness. As a super soldier he could get by on less sleep than the average person but that didn’t mean that he didn’t enjoy the rest that he got from a full night of sleep. After everything that he had gone through since Project Rebirth Steve figured that he deserved to enjoy a good night of sleep and to take his time waking up. If part of that enjoyment came from getting to spend more time with Bucky while they were both soft and relaxed from sleep, well that was no one else’s business.

Reaching over to cuddle up with his boyfriend Steve’s hand only encountered cool sheets and no Bucky. That had Steve waking up the rest of the way in a hurry as he sat up straight in bed and looked around the room to see if Bucky was there and just not in bed. The quick search proved fruitless when no Bucky appeared in sight. That alone with no other information wasn’t enough to make Steve panic but it did send a spike of worry through him.

When Bucky had come in after escaping Hydra he had been plagued by night terrors every time he went to sleep. Steve had been the only one that could help him when Bucky woke up swinging at past spectors that only he could see anymore. Each time after waking up and realizing where he was Bucky had remained on edge for hours afterwards and refused to go back to bed, finding something to do in order to keep himself awake. Now those times had become few and far between but Steve still worried whenever he woke up in bed alone.

Tossing the blankets aside, Steve got out of bed and quickly pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. If he had to go searching the tower for Bucky to make sure that he was okay, Steve didn’t want to be doing it only wearing a pair of boxers. As Steve got ready to head out of the bedroom and begin his search for his boyfriend he cast a glance at the clock reading four thirty in the morning. It was about half an hour before they would normally get up for a run so Steve hoped that maybe Bucky was just getting an early start to the day.

The first place Steve checked was the spare bedroom on his and Bucky’s floor. That was where Bucky had slept when he had first come to the tower and was wary of being close to anyone, Steve included. The spare room was still a place that Bucky could retreat to when things became too much to handle with the trauma that he had endured. Today must not have been one of those days because Steve found the spare room just as empty as their shared bedroom.

With another spike of worry but no less determination Steve moved on to the next room in search of his missing boyfriend. By the time Steve had looked through all of the side rooms of their floor, where his boyfriend would normally go when he was dealing with a nightmare or flashback, without finding Bucky anywhere he was beginning to think that Bucky wasn’t on the floor at all. At least that was until Steve walked into the kitchen and then the sight before him made him wish that Bucky was just visiting another floor.

Standing at the kitchen sink washing a knife under the running water was Bucky with tears streaming down his face. It was a heartbreaking sight that made Steve’s chest tighten up like it had when he was small and having trouble breathing because of his asthma. He knew that Bucky was a strong man and it took a lot to make him cry. Even when he’d wake up in the middle of the night screaming from memories of what Hydra had done to him he rarely cried then and for him to be doing so now meant that there was something seriously wrong.

As much as he wanted to rush across the room and draw Bucky into a giant hug and not let him go until everything was better again Steve knew better than to run at Bucky when he was in the middle of one of his episodes, especially when he was holding a weapon in his hands. Instead Steve walked over to the side where he would be in Bucky’s line of sight before holding up his hands in a surrender pose and taking a few steps towards his upset boyfriend.

“Hey Buck,” Steve said softly, not wanting to startle the other man. “You wanna put the knife down and tell me what’s going on? I wanna help you bud, just tell me what’s wrong and we’ll do everything we can to make it all better.”

Bucky turned to face Steve, setting the knife in the sink and bringing up his flesh hand to wipe at his eyes which continued to stay red and teary.

“What are you talking about Stevie?” Bucky asked with a sniff.

Steve felt himself relax when Bucky set the knife down so easily. If he was willing to let go of his weapon without too much of a fight than hopefully this episode wasn’t as bad as Steve had feared that it was.

“You had a nightmare and I’m sorry I didn’t wake up to help you through it but I’m here now and I’m not going to let you go through it alone,” Steve promised as he took a few more steps towards Bucky until he was close enough that he could reach out and grab hold of his friend if something went wrong. “Why didn’t you wake me up Buck? You know I don’t mind getting up to help you when you need it.”

Bucky’s brow furrowed as he wiped at his eyes again clearing away the tears that had already fallen though his eyes did remain watery. “I seriously don’t know what you’re talking about Steve. What nightmare? I slept just fine last night. No dreams or anything, good or bad.”

That caught Steve off guard and made him pause for a moment. “I don’t understand then. Why weren’t you in bed when I woke up? You always sleep later than I do. I’m pretty sure you’d stay in bed all day if no one bothered to drag you out of it. Then I go searching for you and can’t find you anywhere and when I finally do you’re holding a knife and crying.”

Bucky stared at Steve for a moment like he had grown a second head before bursting out in laughter. “Steve you punk. I just woke up early this morning that’s all. Nothing strange about that. It happens sometimes you know. Sure I’d stay in bed all day if I could because have you felt how soft the bed is? Who would want to get out of that if they had the choice? As for searching for me, why didn’t you just ask JARVIS where I was? He’d have told you I was right here in the kitchen. And the knife and the crying, I was chopping up some onions. Super soldier serum or not, those things always end up making me cry.”

“Chopping onions?” Steve asked, his whole expression so lost and confused at these new pieces of information. Looking around at the kitchen for the first time since walking in and having his whole focus zero in on Bucky revealed bowls of chopped onions, peppers, cheese, and a few meats along with some scrambled eggs ready to be poured into the pan on the stove. “What? I don’t understand.”

Smiling to himself and at his clueless boyfriend, Bucky pulled Steve in to his side and placed a quick kiss to Steve’s cheek. “I was going to make you some breakfast in bed,” Bucky said gently, seeing that Steve was more shaken than he was letting on and not wanting to send his boyfriend into his own spiral. “I woke up early and just saw you laying there in bed, all peaceful and everything, and I just wanted to do something nice for you. I remember back before the war you couldn’t cook for shit and I did most of it and wanted to surprise you with that again by making some omelets for breakfast and bringing them to you in bed. Thought we might just have a nice relaxing morning to ourselves. Didn’t mean for you to get all worked up or nothing.”

Steve blinked a few times as he took in everything that Bucky had said and matched it up against what he had been doing that morning. He wasn’t sure why he had lept to the worst posibible conclusions this morning as soon as he had seen that Bucky wasn’t with him. He hadn’t thought of any innocent reasons why Bucky might have been out of bed and just assumed that it was because his boyfriend was hurt and needed help.

Stepping forward and closing the last few feet between them Steve reached out and drew Bucky into a giant hug that was quickly returned. Sometimes it was easy for Steve to forget that it wasn’t just Bucky that had suffered during his time as Hydra’s assassin. Steve had also gone through the loss of his best friend, the feeling of failing to save him, and then finding out that Hydra had taken him and an all new feeling of failure because of that. There were bound to be lingering marks and sometimes it was a struggle to remember that he needed to lean on Bucky just as much as Bucky needed to lean on him.

“It’s okay punk,” Bucky said affectionately as he rubbed a hand up and down Steve’s back. “Everything’s okay. We’re both here and we’re both safe.”

Steve shuddered once at the soothing tone of Bucky’s voice and pulled back just enough to look Bucky in the eye while still holding onto the hug.

“Sorry about that,” he said sheepishly. “Didn’t mean to get all worked up like that on you.”

Bucky just shrugged a shoulder, gave Steve one more squeeze and a kiss on the cheek, and stepped back towards the stove where everything was still waiting on him.

“It’s not a big deal really. You’re always there when I need you. Course I’m going to be there for you too. ‘Til the end of the line remember?”

Steve smiled at that, the last of the tension leaving his body. “End of the line you jerk.”

Bucky huffed out a laugh as he poured the eggs in the waiting pan and got the omelettes started. “What do you say I get breakfast cooked up and then we go with my original plan and head back to bed to eat there? Make a nice easy day of it?”

Walking up behind his boyfriend Steve wound his arms around Bucky’s waist and gave him a kiss to the back of his neck. “I’d say that sounds like the perfect plan to me.”


End file.
